FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Oct. 29, 2019

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Bloche v. DOD (D.D.C.) -- in dispute over records concerning involvement of medical professionals in interrogation programs, finding that: (1) Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense properly withheld four documents pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, but failed to show that privilege applied to fifth document generated in part by non-government entity; (2) U.S. Navy properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(E); (3) U.S. Army properly withheld all but six documents pursuant to deliberative process privilege and properly relied on attorney-client privilege to withhold two documents, but it failed to justify most withholdings that were based on various combinations of Exemption 5 privileges and failed to establish that it released all segregable, non-exempt records; (4) U.S. Special Operation Command failed to show that comments by former prisoner of war on were protected by deliberative process privilege; (5) Defense Intelligence Agency failed to explain how Exemptions 1, 3, and 5 justified withholding document in full; (6) U.S. Central Command properly redacted records pursuant to Exemption 1; and (7) Joint Task Force Guantanamo failed to justify its withholdings under Exemption 7(E).

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